Underfloor heating is a form of central heating which achieves indoor climate control through thermal conduction alongside convection forced or natural air movement.
Underfloor heating systems were common even in ancient Roman times, when hypocausts were used for underfloor heating of public baths and private houses. The floor was raised above the ground by pillars, and a furnace was placed underneath the floor. Spaces were left inside the walls to allow hot air and smoke to pass through these enclosed areas and out of flues in the roof, thereby heating but not polluting the interior of the room. Ceramic box tiles were placed inside the walls to heat the walls.
Modern underfloor heating systems may be broadly divided into two types, namely warm water systems (“wet” systems) and electric systems.
Warm water systems may be expensive to install but relatively economical to use in the long run. By employing full lengths of piping without any joints, wet underfloor heating loops are practically maintenance free. When constructed from reliable materials, piping used can have a very long lifespan. This is critical, as repairing such mechanisms is typically complex and expensive. However in the event of failure, maintenance of water systems is typically very costly.
Electric underfloor heating systems benefit from simpler and quicker installation. Additionally, warm up times are generally a lot quicker than “wet” systems because the heating elements may be installed directly below the finished flooring making it a direct acting heat source rather than a storage heater. Another advantage of electric underfloor heating over a warm-water system is the floor build up/height. Floor build up can be as little as 1 mm. The electric cables are usually installed onto an insulation board or directly onto the subfloor or padding (under a carpet or laminate); then the floor covering is placed directly over the heating system or thinset.
Both wet and electric heating systems need to be fitted to the surface upon which they rest before they can be used. In wet systems, water pipes must be placed under the flooring typically during the construction of the floor. Electric underfloor heating systems are typically applied to the flooring as prefabricated heating mats. The classic configuration of such heating mats comprises two parallel electrodes with conducting heating elements extending therebetween. Cutting such a prefabricated heating mat for the purpose of fitting it into a complex shaped room will typically involve cutting the electrodes, thus resulting in detachment of a group of heating elements from their power source. Therefore, such prefabricated mats cannot typically be adjusted to fit inside complex shaped rooms, because cutting a heating mat may result in interruption of electric connectivity to parts of the mat.
The need remains therefore, for an electric underfloor heating mat that can be adjusted to fit inside a complex-shaped room without affecting electric connectivity of the heating elements. Embodiments described hereinbelow address this need.